Page 149 of Down & Dirty

My head jostled as she laughed. “I’m pretty sure you wrecked me first.”

Slipping out of her, I dropped a line of light kisses along her sweat-dampened skin. She tasted like salt and smelled like lilies. And if I didn’t have plans for us tonight, I’d have demanded we stay in bed taking turns unraveling each other until the morning.

“Let’s get that shower going, handsome,” she said, smacking me on the ass as she stepped out of her pants and turned on the tap. “We’re going to be late.”

“Not a chance,” I said, stepping in behind her for the fastest shower I’ve ever taken.

The sun was still hanging over the horizon and I did the quick math on how long we had before it set altogether. I smiled to myself; plenty of time.

“Are you sure this is the way to the restaurant? I told my parents to get there by six.” Sky’s head was down as she rifled through her purse, so she didn’t see me glance over at her, a grin on my face that I should have worked harder to hide.

“We’ll be there in time. I just want to check something out on the way.”

Her head snapped up. “Check what out?”

“Nothing. It’ll take two seconds.”

Her cheeks were still rosy, the pink of her skin almost glowing as she stared at me in her white sundress. She’d tied half her hair up, letting the rest fall around her shoulders. Shoulders I wished I still had my lips on. I considered Skylar to be a rare beauty every day of her life, but freshly fucked and happy, she was hard to look away from.

“This isn’t another alpaca farm, is it?” She looked down at her feet. “I’m wearing sandals that are not made for a pasture.”

Laughing, I shook my head as I took the turn into White’s Pond. “No, we’ll make sure no footwear is harmed on this adventure.”

She grumbled in her seat, looking around as we wove through the woods, trying to sort out where we were going. When she spotted the other cars in the small lot, her back went rod straight.

“Is that your dad’s truck?”

“Huh,” I replied, sliding into the spot next to it and turning to get out before she could ask me anything else.

“Cory James Ellis,” she said, glaring at me as she hopped to the ground. “What is going on?”

With a quick glance behind her, I smiled. “Nothing bad, baby.”

Her eyes went wide, apprehension filling them that I wanted to erase. I closed the distance between us, taking her hands in mine.

“I know you’ve missed your folks. And we’ve both been so busy getting the house done, and you ready for your classes this fall.” I sighed, looking over her head at the beautiful pond, lined with maple trees, sparkling in the sun. “But there’s something we need to do.”

Confused, she shook her head. “What?”

“You’ll see,” I said, taking her hand and leading her around the simple cabin that sat on a slope above the water. As soon as we rounded the corner, her grip clamped down, and I let her pause to take it in.

Bistro lights and strings of flowers were hung from the trees, and potted plants with lush white petals overflowed, lining the path down to the dock. Simple violin music filled the air, and the smell of the Sweet Pepperbush floated around us.

But the sights and sounds weren’t what had Skylar stalled in place. It was the looks on the faces of everyone she loved that had her covering her mouth with her fingers, tears welling up in her eyes.

Her parents and Ronnie stood on one side of the aisle, next to Elle, who had Micah in her arms. On the other side were my brothers and father, all of them smiling. Well, except Mack. He just looked at us with an expectant tilt of his lips as if he had a bet on whether Skylar would bolt. Billy was beside him, though, and his smile was wide and proud enough for both of them.

Off to the side a photographer was quietly snapping photos. Even if we did this again, I wanted to make sure we never forgot a second of this day.

“If you wanted something bigger, fancier...” I started, watching her take it all in. “We can do it again. But I need you to be my wife, gorgeous. I can’t wait any longer.”

Waiting till June had been practically impossible. But the race in Southwick was the perfect opportunity with both our families finally in one place. This wasn’t our lake, but it was a simple, beautiful spot, and it felt like us.

But as Skylar stood next to me, her breath held and her hands starting to shake, I got worried I’d missed something again. I was about to ask her what was wrong, when she cut me off.

“I can’t believe you did this,” she whispered.

“Elle and your mom did most of it,” I admitted. I’d come up with the idea and found the spot, and with the few details I’d remembered Sky sharing of what she’d have wanted, they’d made it this perfect.

---